Monday, 23 October 2017

Zanu PF Masvingo province has held its shortest ever
Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) and Provincial Co-ordinating Committee
(PCC) meetings both of which lasted less than 10 minutes with the province
endorsing a resolution for President Robert Mugabe to call for an
extra-ordinary congress in December this year.

Led by Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairperson Ezra
Chadzamira, the PEC only endorsed the mooted extra ordinary congress resolution
but the meeting ended abruptly to give time to the PCC which also resolved that
President Mugabe should call for extra ordinary congress.

"As the PEC we have resolved that we should support
the call to have an extra ordinary congress in December to endorse President
Mugabe as our candidate for 2018 elections," said Chadzamira amid
ululations of agreement from the floor.

The PCC meeting then ended abruptly without any further
deliberations.

Both meetings were led mainly by the Team Lacoste faction
which is known for supporting Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over
from President Mugabe.

The faction members who led the proceedings did not give
any chance to their rivals in the Generation 40 (G40) faction who had planned
to smuggle in other resolutions like constitutional amendments to allow the
inclusion of a woman in the presidium.

Members of the G40 faction, which is said to be pushing for
Grace Mugabe to succeed her husband President Mugabe, were caught unawares by
their rivals as both the PEC and PCC meetings ended before they entered the
venue.

It emerged that G40 members wanted to copy and paste the
Mashonaland West resolutions that included constitutional amendments and the
reservation of space for a female figure in the presidium as part of the
resolutions. On the other hand, Team Lacoste, which is fighting for Mnangagwa's
survival, insisted that Masvingo should only endorse Mugabe to call for an
extra ordinary congress and nothing more.

Coming to the PCC, G40 wanted to deliver a punch to Team
Lacoste faction by axing its members from the provincial executive on
anticipation that they would refuse to endorse the congress.

To back up their move, G40 bused in youths who would
support the move but the plan failed to come into fruition after Team Lacoste
agreed to endorse the December congress.

Outside the venue, Zanu PF youths could be heard singing
songs of praise to alleged G40 kingpins in the province among them
newly-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Engineer Walter Mzembi, Minister of
State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs Dr Paul Chimedza and provincial political
commissar Jeppy Jaboon.

Zanu PF chief whip and alleged Team Lacoste follower
Lovemore Matuke could be heard arguing with Dr Chimedza whom he was accusing of
bussing the youths. Matuke told Dr Chimedza that he was too young to stand
against him.

The visibly drunk Zanu PF youths sang songs saying
Chimedza, Jaboon and Mzembi could walk on top of water without sinking. They
even carried the trio aloft and threw them into the sky as a sign of support.

The PCC meeting which normally stretch for hours only took
about ten minutes before members caucused outside the venue.

Mzembi, who arrived at the venue in time for the PCC but
never disembarked from his car choosing to simply wait until the meeting was
over, later joined the caucus meetings that pushed to edit the resolutions.

When the PCC meeting was over, Jaboon read a WhatsApp
message from Mashonaland West province which outlined how they had presented
their resolutions regarding the extra-ordinary congress but Team Lacoste
members shot it down saying they write their own resolutions.

"We follow instructions from the top and not from
other provinces. That is what they (Mash West) agreed on and not what we agreed
on here today. What you are reading is not a benchmark which we should all
follow so we will write what we ourselves agree on," said Chadzamira.

A visibly infuriated and sweating Jaboon responded saying
he did not care what people who push other agendas say but will use the
Mashonaland West resolution as a template to pen down Masvingo's own
resolutions.

"We need a template to see how other provinces
presented their resolutions so I do not see why you are not happy about
it," said Jaboon to which Chadzamira responded saying he would not sign
the resolutions if Jaboon did not take the views of Masvingo as agreed in the
shortest ever PCC.

Another member queried why people kept on saying they
wanted to endorse Mugabe at the December congress when they had already done so
in 2014.

"We have other issues which are more important than to
just say we want to endorse the President. How many times should we endorse
him? Didn't we endorse him in 2014? There are other more important issues that
should top the agenda," said the irritated party member.

Button-stick armed police had to be called in to maintain
order as there were fears that the situation could implode.

Team Lacoste fears that if the congress is allowed to
realign the party structures and amend the constitution, Mnangagwa would be
booted out and replaced by Grace. Tellzimbabwe news